


Phil's finished symphony

by sleepy__cat



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate History, Angst, Dream Smp, Gen, Ghost Wilbur Soot, Ghostbur x Water, Major character death - Freeform, Second festival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:27:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28968297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepy__cat/pseuds/sleepy__cat
Summary: No one would have the heart to hurt the friendly ghost that roamed the SMP, right? Surely no one was sick enough to even attempt that.But Phil didn't take into account what the search for power does to  people and how desperate they become.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	Phil's finished symphony

New L’Manburg shone bright under the night sky, thanks to the lanterns that Phil and Ghostbur made together. Phil offered his help to set up this festival, decorate it a bit. Fundy also took part in it though he focused more on entertainment and games.  
He brought back multiple games from the last festival, making small changes here and there to make it a bit more interesting, as well as making some new games.

All the hard work paid off. New L’Manburg looked breathtaking. Phil looked up at the night sky, lanterns lighting it up alongside the stars. He felt a cold hand rest on his shoulder as a cup of tea was handed to him. 

“Here,” Ghostbur smiled at his father. “,it’s getting cold.” 

“Thank you, Ghostbur.” Phil took the cup in his hands with a slight smile, just then noticing that his hands had been freezing. The warm cup immediately warmed him, it was a nice feeling, one that reminded him of earlier days of sitting by a campfire and reading up on ancient myths. 

Maybe he should start wearing some of the gear Techno made him for going through the Antarctic. He could always just say he’s going for a new colour scheme when Quackity starts questioning him. There’s nothing wrong with trying out a new style, even if that style resembles the exiled anarchist that the leaders are hunting down.

“You know, tomorrow during the festival, I think it’d be best that you stay away.” He took a sip of the tea before looking out over the town.  
“Why?” Ghostbur turned his head a bit, confused as to why he wasn’t allowed to be at the festival. It was going to be so much fun and he just wanted to see everyone happy for once. He just wanted to go a day without giving out blue.

Phil sighed. “Because history tends to repeat itself.”

\----  
Ghost spent the night walking around the festival grounds and writing down everything that caught his attention. From the moonlight dancing with the fish in the water that filled up the crater beneath New L’Manburg to the lights slowly getting turned off throughout the town. 

It was early morning when Phil met Ghostbur on his balcony. The sun was slowly appearing on the horizon, it gave the sky a beautiful orange hue.  
“Ghostbur,” A map was handed to the ghost, a tiny dot stood at the edge of it.  
“,follow this map. Take Friend with you and go there. Don’t look back, don’t even think about coming back. Techno and Tommy will be there and they will take care of you.”

Ghostbur examined the map for a while, zoning out of the conversation. He turned his head a few times and turned around to see where the dot would go.  
He did this until Phil pulled him in for the tightest hug the ghost had ever felt. “Stay safe, son. I can’t…,” The sigh that escaped from his lips was shaky, quivering at the mere thought of going through that again. He stepped back, letting Ghostbur go. “,You should leave soon, they’re waiting for you.”

And with that, they bid farewell and Ghostbur, Friend walking next to him, disappeared in the horizon. 

The sun was high in the sky and Phil was busy preparing. He occasionally looked outside. There were people walking through the town and admiring the decorations. Laughing and singing as they took in the beautiful sights. Everyone was happy and why wouldn’t they be? New L’Manburg was finally starting an era of prosperity and growth after months tyranny and suffering. A sign of hope was all that the citizens needed. They wanted 1 night to forget about their suffering.

Phil had better things to do than watch someone get assasinated like last time. So, he stayed home and brewed potions. Techno did have brewing stands of his own but Phil didn’t want to intrude. Better to do some preparing than to jump in head first.  
He stared out of his window for a second while the air was filling with heated up nether wart. It was sweet like berries but had a betraying hint of charcoal. The smell and looks had tricked unknowing players. One small bite of nether wart and your lungs collapse within minutes.  
The nether was a dangerous place for anyone. It’s a true death trap.

He walked out onto his balcony, the fresh wind hit his face and his hair danced along with it. It was a bit grown out, a small braid held the back together. 

Wilbur used to cut and take care of it for him. As much as he loved and cared about Ghostbur, it just wasn’t the same. Wilbur and Ghostbur had nothing in common. Ghostbur wasn’t Wilbur.

Ghostbur wasn’t Phil’s son.

Everything seemed normal when he looked out. Conclusion? Everyone seemed happy. Maybe he was wrong about the festival. 

Maybe Tubbo didn’t have some big assassination planned and it was actually a festival to celebrate the peace that had fallen over this country. Though he thought it was important to note that this peace only exists because the president betrayed and exiled his best friend. 

There was a false sense of peace because when Dream gets pissed again, New L’Manburg will have to pay for it. This vicious cycle will continue until everyone realises that Dream only has power because of fear. Fear motivated everyone to stay quiet, turn on each other and quiver everytime he showed up.

Maybe he should go. Just for a second, just to make sure nothing is happening, just to-

He shook his head and stepped back inside to check on the potions that were brewing. Phil was preparing for a long trip, one that he will have to go on alone. The potions would help him escape if things went south and people chased him down. He was smart enough to know that suspicions will arise at some point.

Quackity kept a close eye on Phil at all times, even now as the man brewed potions and organised his chest. In Quackity’s opinion, he still couldn’t be trusted after he protected Techno like that. He had the power to help them kill the biggest traitor but he kept it secret? Phil was a danger to New L’Manburg and all the countries and nations close to it.

“Quackity?” Tubbo’s voice hinted at a kind of worry, it laced his voice. He looked back at the dark haired man.  
Quackity stopped staring at Phil’s house, shaking his head for a second and catching up to Tubbo. “Sorry, I got caught up in my own thoughts..”

Tubbo placed a hand on his shoulder, shooting him a reassuring smile. “Stop worrying so much. Today is the festival, we’re here to have fun.” He took a piece of cake from a stand close to them and shoved it at Quackity. “So have some fun.”

And with that, Tubbo walked away. He met up with Fundy and Ranboo, the three of them walking towards the new chessboard. 

Quackity looked down at the piece of cake on the plate. It was a red velvet cake, one that Niki and Puffy made last night. There were a variety of coloured cakes available, except blue. Apparently someone stole most of their blue food colouring a few nights ago. There wasn’t enough time to get it again so they just had to roll with it.

He put the plate down near the cakes again. Lifting his sunglasses revealed how bright everything looked. A small smile crept across his face. The original plan was to kill Dream during this festival but the cabinet had decided it was best to put that plan on the backburner, much to Quackity’s dismay. He wanted to get it done soon to end the tyrant’s reign. A festival could be thrown again after they succeeded in killing him.

He wanted that green bastard gone and have peace without fear or worry of what that man had up his sleeve. 

No one could predict Dream. He’s like an unreliable factor, a bomb. He could explode any second without a real reason as to why. Revenge or entertainment, they were the same to Dream.

Quackity let out a deep sigh, realising he’d been holding his breath.

The sunglasses rested on top of his beanie. Before he joined the crowd, he looked back at Phil’s house, seeing the man staring back at him through the front window. They locked eyes for a few seconds before Quackity walked away, leaving his thoughts.

Phil was almost done brewing. He added just a bit of redstone dust, making sure not to add too much like Tommy did last time. He had to throw away the whole batch and in that moment, they unanimously decided that Tommy was never allowed near a brewing stand ever again.

The memory made Phil chuckle a bit. It broke his heart to see how broken the boy was, how exile had changed him. The fire that once resided in his eyes was now dimmer, close to being extinguished. 

If he was being honest, he felt guilty. Almost as if it was his fault that one of his sons was close to dying again. He should’ve taken Tommy in when he got exiled, he should’ve immediately rescued him. If only Phil wasn’t focused on Techno and took a second to visit Tommy. He’d been a bad friend and a worse father.

If only he knew what Dream did to the poor boy.

Phil’s thoughts were interrupted by people outside. They were yelling and screaming. Whatever was happening, it wasn’t good but it also wasn’t his business. So, he just continued the preparations.

He rummaged through his chests, searching for some more redstone dust. He went mining recently so he still had some ore. 

Before he could break it all, a hurried knock landed on the sturdy spruce door. “It’s open.” Phil said, loud enough that the person outside barged in. It was Ranboo and he didn’t look well. His eyes were wide open, he was panting and heaving like he’d been teleporting for a while. 

“Ranboo, what brings you here? Were you teleporting again?” Phil sighed as he walked closer to Ranboo. “We still have to look into that more-”

“It’s Dream.” Ranboo pants and grabs Phil’s shoulders. Their eyes met as worry started to seep into Phil’s mind. “He put Ghostbur on the dunk tank.” 

Terror clouded Phil’s mind as worst case scenarios started slowly seeping in. His world went dark, everything around him went dark as he looked at the scared boy in front of him. For a moment, his mind thought that this could be a trap. This was some sick thing Quackity had set up to get revenge on Phil and Techno. But not even Quackity, someone corrupted and focused on revenge, would even dare to lay a hand on Ghostbur, right?

Ghostbur was just a friendly ghost. He just wants to help people and unite them. Just drain away their sadness and paint smiles on everybody’s faces. 

He didn’t even wait for Ranboo to show him, Phil just started running out of his house and towards the dunk tank. Every attendee of the festival was gathered there even though the sun was setting already. They were yelling at someone or something, it could be heard from afar. 

He pushed through the crowd, squeezing through as people quickly made a path for him. 

As Phil looked at the dunk tank itself, he saw him. The yellow sweater with a stitched up tear in the middle, the grey beanie he loved to wear, the almost see through hands that weren’t shaking. He was oblivious to the predicament he was in. Ranboo wasn’t lying. 

On the dunk tank was the ghost of his eldest son.

“Stop this right now.” Phil’s voice was stern and cold as the crowd scattered, creating a little path directly to Tubbo. His hands landed on the young boy’s shoulders as he looked to the masked man standing to his left. He had a crossbow in his hands. It scared him. He’d seen that crossbow take lives without Dream even thinking for a second. That man was dangerous and the weapon in his hand isn’t what made him like that. 

“This is ridiculous!”

“Phil! Why don’t you come stand next to me?” Dream pulled Phil off the young boy as he stepped forwards and handed him the crossbow. A sly grin could be seen from behind the mask.  
“Our dear President has an important decision to make.” Dream held the older man’s upper arm with a firm grip. The message he wanted to send was loud and clear: One wrong move and Ghostbur is getting dunked, no matter what happens. 

Phil took a deep, quivering breath as he looked back up at Ghostbur. The ghost was just looking around like nothing was happening. As if his life wasn’t hanging by a thin thread, as if Tubbo couldn’t just crush him right that second. 

“It’ll be okay! Tubbo won’t hurt you!” Ghostbur smiled after hearing his father say those comforting words. It warmed his heart to see that familiar smile. Maybe Ghostbur and Wilbur weren’t the same person but that smile, Phil could recognise that anywhere. That smile made him realise how alike they truly were. Ghostbur was just a part of Wilbur that his obsession with L’Manburg and his search for power destroyed.

Phil’s attention got moved to Dream as an ever pressing question remained unanswered. The words he wanted to say so badly got stuck in his throat as fear of losing his son twice took over. Pleading eyes looked over at Tubbo.

“What I want you to do, Tubbo, is to dunk Ghostbur.” Dream’s head tilted a bit as he looked at the boy. “Dunk him and I help you capture Techno.”

The once loud crowd changed their yells into small whispers. Sobs and protesting yells echoed as people took sides. There was no grey area here. Some people were yelling at Tubbo to just shoot, others were pleading him not to. Phil looked at Fundy, who stood behind the president as a member of his cabinet. His ears hung low, just like his head. Fundy didn’t have the nerve to look up at Ghostbur, who seemed oblivious to his coming fate.

Tubbo dropped the crossbow, without hesitation. Even if it felt like hours for Phil, it was only a matter of seconds. As relief washed over the crowd, Tubbo looked at Phil, who mouthed a small thank you to the young boy. “Dream, as much as I want Techno to pay for what he did,” Tubbo looked at Ghostbur. “,I won’t hurt a citizen to do so.”

The crowd emerged in screams and protests. Phil looked behind him as the green man let his arm go. He saw Niki being held by Puffy as her body shook, tears were surely falling. It dawned on Phil that Niki had never seen Ghostbur before, never even talked to him. Poor girl PHil thought. An awful way to find out about the faith of your old friend.

He turned back to face the president, tears brimmed Phil’s eyes as he went in to hug Tubbo. They were pulled away by the loud sounds of an arrow getting shot and pistons pushing blocks out. 

He looked at Ghostbur, who smiled as he went down and disappeared into the water.

His smile turned into screams of pure agony and pain as the water took over his whole body. Phil ran to the glass and started hitting it with his bare fists. His son was slowly disappearing, he was dying again in front of his eyes and there was nothing Phil could do to save him. He stopped hitting the glass, it was useless anyways. Just like last time, he was letting Wilbur go. He was watching the last part of his son die in front of him. He fell to his knees, his legs were to weak to hold his broken body.

“Goddamnit…” Phil sobbed as the palm of his hand landed on the glass and was met with Ghostbur’s. He looked up and right before he disappeared, Ghostbur smiled at Phil. Then, everything went quiet. There were no more screams coming from the tank. The only thing left were the small blue particles floating in the water. It felt like a sour reminder to the man once known as the president. “I’m sorry I let you down again, son…”

Phil stayed on his knees for a while, it felt like an eternity before his legs were able to carry him again. 

He quickly stood up and turned around, wiping the tears off his face as he looked around the crowd. His eyes darted from left to right as they finally locked with the crossbow. He looked at Quackity, who still had it in his hands. “Now show me that pig.” was the only thing he was able to utter before being met with the fist of a pained father. 

Quackity fell to the ground, Phil’s foot pressing on his chest. He grabbed the blue tie that the traitor was wearing. “That was my son.” He pulled the tie tighter, making it tight around Quackity’s neck. He was struggling to breath but Phil didn’t care. If it was up to him, Quackity’s face would go red, he should be begging for Phil’s mercy.

“You have the audacity to let my eldest son die a horribly painful death.” Phil’s voice reflected the rage and pain that the man had caused him. “And now you have the nerve to go after my friend.” 

“Get off him, Phil.” 

Phil didn’t look at the man behind him, he recognised the voice immediately. His own grandson, whose father was just brutally murdered, is telling him to step back. He wasn’t surprised though. Fundy never got along with Wilbur, not since the election. 

Their relationship was forever altered after Wilbur lost. And despite all the effort they put into mending it, it never worked. To be honest, Phil thinks Fundy has always held a grudge against Wilbur. Wilbur never put Fundy first, it was always L’Manburg. 

Wilbur was not a good father, he was never around. Phil remembers Fundy being alone for most of his life. He tried to impress his dad but was left with a gaping hole in his heart because no matter what he tried, Wilbur didn’t care. Now that neglect turned into a bitter hatred to the point where Fundy didn’t care about the agonizing death of his father.

Phil released the tie out of his tight grip but dug the heel of his boot further in the stomach of the scared man under him. He bent down a bit and whispered: "You're no better than Schlatt." And with that sentence lingering in the tense atmosphere, lifted his foot off and turned around. Phil was greeted with a shocked Tubbo who put his hand on Phil’s shoulder. The small boy was shocked to say the least. His cabinet just betrayed him and went agains this orders.

The raven haired man stood up and wiped off the blood with one of his sleeves. “Run away, old man.” Quackity laughed. “Run away from another battle.”

“Phil, don’t.” The small boy looked at Phil with pleading eyes. The remark was enough to get him riled up again, his fists were ready to throw another punch but this time, he wouldn’t stop until Quackity’s nose was shattered. But Tubbo managed to stop him by saying those simple words. He recognised Will in those eyes.

Those big, innocent eyes and the bags under them that signified sleepless nights.

It brought him back to simpler days, before Wilbur went out to find his path in the world.

Before the presidency and L’Manburg and the hunger for power. Wilbur’s obsession with being the leader wasn’t just a small obsession, it took over his whole life. What was supposed to be a fight led by freedom soon turned into a fight for power. 

Phil ruffled the boy’s fluffy hair as a sad smile spread across his face. The tears that were streaming down his face were now invisible, blending in with the pouring rain that had started to fall from the skies not too long ago. It felt like a bittersweet reminder. They walked away from the crowd but not towards L’Manburg. They went in the exact opposite direction. Away from the crowd, away from the noise. 

“Where are we going, Phil?” 

“We’re going home.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed that! It's the first one shot I'm actually publishing. I might add Techno and Tommy's POV in another chapter so let me know if that interests you!


End file.
